The purpose of this unit is to provide students with an inquiry-based series of lessons. In this unit, we will be participating in an online web-pased project, called "Take a Dip". There are two main objectives for this project: to sample the quality of a fresh water body (for temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates) & to collect and observe the macroinvertebrates living in that fresh water body.
This unit is designed in a sequential manner in order to help students build their knowledge throughout this project. We begin the unit by walking down to our testing site (which is a small pond behind the school). We then form an initial hypothesis about the quality of the pond water. This initial lesson is then followed by a series of lessons that will lead to the culmination of the unit, which is to analyze all of our collected data and draw conclusions about it.
In between the initial and the final step of the unit, students will learn the importance of macroinvertebrates in relation to the water quality. They will also learn how to identify macroinvertebrates in a step-by-step manner using the aid of a dichotomous key.
Another major learning goal for students in this unit is to be able to use various water testing kits. They will learn how to handle a thermometer and measure the temperature of the water. They will also learn how to use kits that test for the pH, Dissolved Oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates in the water.
I have chosen to teach this unit because it gives students an opportunity to engage in active learning. It teaches them how to conduct a scientific investigation and how to analyze the results of the investigation.
To engage the students, I will tell them that they will get to act like "real" scientists and go outside to do investigative field work. I will also inform them that we will be posting our collected data online along with photos of our pond and the students of themselves. Students should get excited about this unit also because it's really their pond that we will be investigating. It's a pond that they can walk by each day to class. Hopefully they will feel a personal connection to the pond and will be eager to learn about the condition of water in it and about the different organisms living in it.
To link this unit to everyday examples and experiences for the students, I will tell them that just as us humans need a certain environment and enough oxygen to breathe, so do the little organisms in the pond (macroinvertebrates). Also, I will inform them that a lot of our (human) actions can have an effect on the water quality and on the organisms living in it. I will provide examples to them about how their potential actions can affect the water quality (i.e. pouring left-over paint or fertilizers down a storm which could eventually end up in the pond as runoff). I will explain to them how these actions could influence the quality of the water and the macroinvertebrates living in it.
Purpose of Unit:
The purpose of this unit is to provide students with an inquiry-based series of lessons. In this unit, we will be participating in an online web-pased project, called "Take a Dip". There are two main objectives for this project: to sample the quality of a fresh water body (for temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates) & to collect and observe the macroinvertebrates living in that fresh water body.
This unit is designed in a sequential manner in order to help students build their knowledge throughout this project. We begin the unit by walking down to our testing site (which is a small pond behind the school). We then form an initial hypothesis about the quality of the pond water. This initial lesson is then followed by a series of lessons that will lead to the culmination of the unit, which is to analyze all of our collected data and draw conclusions about it.
In between the initial and the final step of the unit, students will learn the importance of macroinvertebrates in relation to the water quality. They will also learn how to identify macroinvertebrates in a step-by-step manner using the aid of a dichotomous key.
Another major learning goal for students in this unit is to be able to use various water testing kits. They will learn how to handle a thermometer and measure the temperature of the water. They will also learn how to use kits that test for the pH, Dissolved Oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates in the water.
I have chosen to teach this unit because it gives students an opportunity to engage in active learning. It teaches them how to conduct a scientific investigation and how to analyze the results of the investigation.
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